The U.S. intelligence community mentioned GRU as one of the culprits of the DNC hacking sandal in a report issued in January, the newspaper said.

The U.S. Justice Department reportedly has evidence against six members of the Russian government allegedly involved in the computer hack of the Democratic National Committee. An indictment like that referenced in Thursday's report may change that, however, since prosecutors would be inclined to identity the suspected perpetrators in order to press charges.

Thousands of the DNC's emails and other data, as well as emails from the personal account of John Podesta, who served as campaign chairman to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, were made public by WikiLeaks past year.

Prosecutors charged Papadopoulos with lying to investigators about his conversations with a foreign professor who told him that Russians had thousands of emails containing "dirt" on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

According to a declassified report released in January, from the leaders of the intelligence community, Russian President Vladimir Putin "ordered" an effort to influence the US election and "denigrate" Clinton.

The report comes as special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into alleged ties between Russian election interference and the Trump campaign enters a new stage. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

The pinpointing of particular Russian military and intelligence hackers highlights the exhaustive nature of the government's probe.

If charges are brought, there will likely not be any arrests of Russian operatives, the Journal notes. President Donald Trump - as a candidate and president - has downplayed possible Russian involvement in the hacks, the Post wrote.

High-ranking US intelligence and law-enforcement officials have consistently stood by the intelligence community's January assessment.

The report said Russia's cyber operations connected with the USA elections started in March 2016, the Post reported. Dozens of other officials may have also participated.

Justice Department prosecutors have gathered evidence on the Russian officials for what could be one of the most revealing discoveries yet about the Kremlin's election meddling, the Wall Street Journal reported.

If and when charges are filed next year, it would be the second time the United States has charged Russians with cybercrimes.